Thomas Thorn turned away from the camera and stared off toward the door to the office suite aboard Air Force One. He hated making decisions like this alone; he’d always had Goff, Venti, or his wife nearby to query or from whom to get opinions on something. Even though he was electronically connected to everyone, he felt completely isolated.
He turned back toward his teleconference monitors. Goff looked angry, Venti as calm and as unruffled as ever, and Maureen Hershel appeared determined and aggressive. “Robert, what’s the chance of McLanahan’s successfully accomplishing this mission?” he asked.
“Mr. President, it’s impossible to guess,” Goff replied. “It’s a good plan — simple, modest, and audacious enough to surprise the heck out of everyone. I don’t believe for a moment Gryzlov knows where our boys are or what they’re doing, or else he would’ve paraded shot-up aircraft and bodies out for the world press in a heartbeat. McLanahan’s teams are small and rely too much on high-tech gizmos for my taste, but if anyone knows that arena, it’s him. However, the sheer scope of what they have to do…hell, sir, I don’t give them more than a one-in-ten chance.”
“That’s
“But considering our only other options, I think it’s the best chance we’ve got,” Goff said. “Gryzlov’s a mad dog, sir — totally unpredictable. If he were worried about the destruction of his regime and the Russian government, he never would have attacked us. The bottom line is, he could strike again at any moment. We’ve got to move before he does. McLanahan’s our only option, other than an all-out nuclear attack.”
“And if I chose to recall McLanahan and wait to see if Gryzlov really will stand down his strategic and tactical nuclear forces?”
“Sir, you just can’t trust Gryzlov,” Vice President Busick said. “More than likely he’s hoping that we’ll try to recall or freeze McLanahan, which will give the Russians an opportunity to pinpoint his location. The guy is obsessed with tacking McLanahan’s scalp up on his wall, sir — you heard him yourself. My God, the bastard probably murdered Sen’kov and then attacked the United States of America with
Thorn nodded his thanks to his onetime political adversary, thought in silence for a few moments, then said, “I don’t want to play Gryzlov’s game, but I don’t want to provoke another nuclear attack either. And if there’s any way to ensure peace, even if it means entering into negotiations with the Russians before we attempt a counterstrike, even if it means sacrificing a good man, I’ll do it.
“McLanahan can continue to his objective — but he holds short before he attacks. He must contact Secretary Goff, General Venti, or myself for an update and instructions. If we have positive evidence that Gryzlov has stood down his forces and is ready to negotiate a verifiable arms deal, we’ll recall McLanahan — preferably by getting permission from Gryzlov to fly a transport plane in and get him, rather than make McLanahan evade the Russian army halfway across Siberia. Under no circumstances can McLanahan or his forces commence their attack without a go signal from one of us.”
Reluctantly, Secretary Goff turned to Richard Venti and nodded. Venti picked up a telephone. “Get me General Luger at Battle Mountain.” Moments later: “Dick Venti here, secure, Dave.”
“David Luger, secure, ready to copy, sir.”
“We’re going to issue written orders in a moment, but I’m relaying orders to you now directly from the president: Patrick’s teams go in, but they hold in place and contact the National Command Authority or myself before initiating action.”
“That would be extremely hazardous for the team, sir,” Luger responded. “With their fuel states and reaction times, they’re counting on a very precise sequence of actions to occur. Stopping someplace outside the fence to hide and wait wasn’t in the game plan.”
“Unfortunately, that’s the order, General,” Venti said. “Transmit yours and Patrick’s concerns to me once you get the written orders, but get a message out to Patrick right away and give him the update. Ask him to acknowledge the orders immediately.”
“Yes, sir. Can I ask what prompted this change of plan, sir? Communications from President Gryzlov?”
“Affirmative.”
“Sir, I assure you, the team is still on schedule and still one hundred percent mission-ready,” Luger said. “If Gryzlov told you that agreeing to call off this mission is the only way to save the team’s lives or to ensure peace, he’s lying.”
“Issue the orders, General,” Venti said simply. He knew for damned sure Luger was right, but the president had already made his decision. It was a dangerous but prudent compromise — putting a small group of commandos at great risk in the hope of averting a nuclear exchange at the same time. “If you have any questions or concerns, put them in writing and send them along. Out.”
You can’t be serious, sir!” General Nikolai Stepashin exclaimed. “You are going to unilaterally
“Of course not, General,” President Anatoliy Gryzlov said as he replaced the phone back on its cradle. He lit up a cigarette, which only served to make the cramped, stifling meeting room even gloomier. “Do you think I’m stupid? Give the Americans the locations of the missile bases, silos, and garrisons they already know about and monitor; move a few planes around; scatter around some inert weapons, fuel tanks, or ammo boxes on the ramps besides a few bombers — anything to make it appear as if we are disarming.”
“Such trickery will not fool the Americans for long.”
“It doesn’t have to, Nikolai,” Gryzlov said. “All I want is for Thorn to issue the order to McLanahan to halt.”
“Halt? Why do you think he will tell him to just stop?”
“Because Thorn is a weak, spineless, contemplative rag doll,” Gryzlov responded derisively. “He sent McLanahan on some mission — more likely McLanahan
“My guess is that he will not order McLanahan to turn back, but he will not order the mission to be terminated either — it is part of his pattern of indecisive thinking that will result in defeat for the Americans and disgrace for Thorn and all who follow him,” Gryzlov said confidently. “He will order McLanahan to stop at Eareckson Air Base and stand by until Thorn sees if we are serious or not. This will give us several hours, perhaps even a day or two, to find McLanahan and crush him. All of our strike forces will still be in place and still ready to deliver another blow against the Americans if they decide to counterattack.”
Gryzlov looked at Stepashin and aimed a finger at him menacingly. “You have your orders, Stepashin — it’s up to you and your men now,” he said. “Find McLanahan, his aircraft, and his Tin Man commandos. Don’t worry about taking them alive — just blast them to hell as soon as you find them.” He thought for a moment. “You have a force of bombers standing by for follow-on attacks, do you not, Stepashin?”
“Yes, sir,” the chief of staff replied. He quickly scanned a report in a folder in front of him. “I think we have adequate forces ready, sir. What is the target, sir?”
“Eareckson Air Base on Shemya Island.”
Stepashin nodded. That order was not unexpected: The two Tupolev-160 bombers originally assigned to destroy Shemya obviously were shot down or crashed sometime between their successful strikes over Alaska and their planned attacks against Eareckson; satellite reconnaissance reported much air activity over Shemya, so the base was obviously still operational. As America’s closest base to Russia’s eastern military bases, Shemya had to be dealt with. “We will plan another air strike using MiG-23s from Anadyr.”
“Fighter-bombers? What about the rest of our heavy-bomber fleet, Stepashin?”
Nikolai Stepashin swallowed apprehensively. “The initial attack on North America was most successful, sir,
